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This is a close call.

The business owner knew who the BG was, so he could have easily made a police report and had the guy arrested. And the BG was fleeing and apparently not posing a threat at the time the business owner fired. And believe me, you don't try to shoot out the tires of a fleeing vehicle in MA.

Now if he had stolen property on him as he was fleeing, under TX law the business owner could have shot him with no problem. He was fleeing with stolen property, and, it was "in the nighttime".

While my sympathies are with the business owner, I have a bad feeling that under MA law he is going to get prosecuted and most likely convicted. About the only thing that could save him is jury nullification. (And in a case like this such an outcome is not out of the question. Even in The People's Republic, some of "the people" are starting to get fed up with being victimized.)